SANTA CRUZ -- Father Joel Miller, the rector at downtown's Calvary Episcopal Church, has faith that he won't lose his pulpit.

Charged this summer with unbecoming conduct for his handling of a homeless outreach program and inappropriate communication with parishioners, Miller won't know his fate until an upcoming church trial.

Although he has yet to hear specific canonical allegations stemming from the complaints of seven church members, the 62-year-old father of four said he has been assured repeatedly by the bishop of his Monterey-based diocese that he will not be defrocked or relocated.

"I don't know to this day what it is I said or who it is I injured," Miller said in an interview last week inside his study at the 146-year-old church, located at Center and Lincoln streets. "My response has been, I can't plead innocent or guilty until I know what I've done or how I've mismanaged the ministries."

Shortly after Miller allowed organizers of the Monday Night Coffee House ministry -- a weekly Bible study and meal put on volunteers -- to move from the Elm Street Mission to his church in June 2008, arrests and citations for loitering, drug dealing and overnight camping became commonplace. The problems, illustrated by the physical assault of a church volunteer at the hands of a transient, were not limited to the Monday events and were exacerbated by a drum circle that used to gather across the street at the weekly farmers market.

Miller's critics, including police, other city officials and former and current church members, say bad behavior on the part of transients visiting the church -- commonly called the Red Church for its maroon-colored wooden siding -- during the Coffee House programs or at other times has gotten better in recent months. But they say Miller hasn't been forceful or consistent enough in cracking down.

Miller, who celebrated his fourth anniversary with the church in December, insists he has been "dogged about this since the beginning and had many confrontations with people who have been difficult to get off the property." He acknowledges, however, that dealing with the problem presents a conflict for him, because the church has a mission to serve the downtrodden, many of whom have mental health problems.

"It's difficult because the church has this challenge: We are basically inviting sinners to God's grace and love, and we're inviting people with issues," he said.

A small sign between the church office and community hall proclaims that all are welcome, but it also states that there is no smoking, drug use, loitering or overnight camping allowed on the property. Critics say the problem has been Miller's uneven enforcement of those rules, though Miller says he routinely asks rule-breakers to leave.

Homeless services are always a controversial matter in Santa Cruz, where it can be difficult to distinguish between people needing help and transients who are looking to buy or sell drugs, or just camp illegally. The Homeless Services Center has been roundly praised in recent months for enforcing a ban against those who commit illegal activity around its Harvey West campus shelter, and Miller says he also bans people who routinely cause problems.

VAGUE CHARGES

The diocesan committee that recommended two charges against Miller after hiring an independent lawyer to investigate found in its presentment, or church indictment, that Miller "has managed the parish's program of outreach to the homeless in a way which has brought disrepute and material discredit upon the church. Specifically, the Rev. Miller has significantly failed to create relationships of cooperation and trust with other agencies and groups also working with the homeless population."

On the second count, the committee found, "He has failed to adequately appreciate the seriousness and sensitivity of personal communications, and has failed to maintain adequate boundaries; in so doing he has injured those who had a right to believe that they could place their trust in him."

The letter, provided to the Sentinel by church members, doesn't provide further detail about the complaints, but Miller said he expects specific allegations will come out during an upcoming hearing. Miller, who came to the church in 2006 after a previous assignment in Turlock and 17 years ministering in North Africa, said the diocesan trial, to be heard by a jury of clergy and lay people at an undetermined date, is a "very slow process."

He said he just recently received a summons to appear for a hearing date to be set later. He said he will be given time to mount a defense, which he intends to do because he believes he has done nothing wrong.

If found guilty on either or both counts, Miller said he could be suspended or admonished.

Brian Nordwick, a representative of the El Camino Episcopal Diocese, confirmed an internal church review is under way concerning Miller, but he could not discuss details. Nordwick said Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves, the head of the diocese, was away for several weeks and could not be disturbed.

Considering the struggle police and parishioners have had keeping transients from committing illegal activity outside the church, the reasons behind the first charge are straightforward. But the second charge is particularly vague.

Miller said it could have to do, at least in part, with his handling of a June 2009 assault against a church volunteer.

The female volunteer was shaken and sworn at by a young man Miller described as an alcoholic transient. Miller said the woman was dissatisfied about how he handled the situation in communicating with her about it, and the woman later left the church.

Miller said he eventually let the young man return to the church because the mission of the Coffee House Ministry is to serve a population on the margins, including those with mental illness and drug addictions. Miller said the young man hasn't caused a problem since, but added, "We have a lot of people that we tell are not welcome until they can show that they can behave."

Miller said there may be other unrelated conversations he had with parishioners that some felt were in appropriate.

He declined to discuss them in detail publicly before the trial.

MORE WORK TO DO'

Police and others say the amount of trespassing, loitering and drug activity around Calvary Episcopal Church has shrunk in recent months, especially since the drum circle, which has acted as a magnet for transient drug users, was disbanded across the street.

But many believe Father Miller has "more work to do," as police Capt. Steve Clark put it.

"We don't feel like it gets appropriate attention from the church leadership," Clark said. "They need to more proactively manage their property with the understanding and respect for the impact it has on the surrounding neighborhood."

The church has a trespass letter on file with police, meaning officers have permission to arrest people for trespassing without checking with church staff first. But Clark said officers most often remove people from the property, issue citations and make arrests only when someone reports a disturbance or other problem.

Miller said he and church staff and members routinely call police to report problems, but nearby businesses and property owners also complain.

Frustration with the church reached a high point last spring when then-Councilwoman Cynthia Mathews sent a letter to Bishop Gray-Reeves complaining about the arrests and citations made outside the church for drugs, theft, public intoxication and battery.

"It is the lack of buy-in by church leadership to the collaborative problem-solving approach that has been so frustrating," Mathews wrote in the April 2010 letter. "Church leadership has either been in utter denial about the problems associated with church property, and its relationship to other community conditions, or it simply chooses to continue with disregard for the impact on the broader community. Neither is acceptable."

Miller said the letter from Mathews "wasn't appropriate" because "it represented her opinion, not the City Council's opinions, and she could have written it as a private citizen."

Mathews, who left the council in December due to term limits, stressed that she was urged to take action by parishioners and other community members, not because of her own personal interest. Mathews owns a rental house on Lincoln Street across from the church.

Although Mathews said last week she never received a response from the bishop, she noted, "There is not the level of problematic activity, but it does come and go and is not completely gone."

MIXED REACTION

Church members James and Catherine Gill said they quit regularly attending Calvary Episcopal Church after the illegal problems intensified at the church.

"We have become less involved because of the two matters in the presentment, and the lack of response to them," James Gill wrote in an e-mail, declining to say more until the trial has been completed.

But Kay Stewart, an artist and stay-at-home mom who just recently joined the church, said she feels safe there and believes the church is serving its mission to minister to a diverse mix of people.

"I think the outreach to homeless, that's sort of historically what the church has done," Stewart said. "It's kind of a good thing, not forgetting about people that are challenged for various reasons and not able to support themselves."

Mayor Ryan Coonerty said the church leadership is "uneven" in its handling of problems on its property.

"My argument all along has been if you want to provide services to homeless youth, I think that's great," he said. "But you have the responsibility to the community and specifically the neighborhood to provide security and to make sure that there isn't loitering and illegal activity."

But Councilwoman Katherine Beiers, a board member of the Homeless Services Center, said she believes most of the upheaval over the church has to do with the fact that homeless people are there at all.

"People don't want to look at poor people and mentally ill people -- they just don't want them visible," Beiers said.

She said she believes Miller has exercised good judgment in determining who is actually breaking the law and who is just sitting on the lawn during the day to take a break.

"I think he has a really great sense of what is right and wrong, and at the same time trying to extend that Christian hand," Beiers said.